Characters
Karekano revolves around the relationship between Arima and Yukino, with school playing a major part in their lives. At their high school, they are part of a close circle of 9 friends, and are the most popular students at school. Kano once describes them as the "star group" because they have an aura about them that made each of them stand out. They are Yukino (the leader), Arima, Asapin, Tsubasa, Maho, Tsubaki, Tonami, Aya, and Rika.
Miyazawa Yukino |
Ambition: To be #1 in life
Age: 15 years old, 1st year Hokuei High School Club: The Going Home club Traits: Cunning, manipulative, ambitious Profile: Yukino devotes her whole life to refining a perfect image of herself in her ambitious drive to become #1. But her life is turned upside down in high school when she meets Arima, who is impossibly smarter (and nicer!) than her. As her one-sided rivalry with Arima deepens, she realizes she is actually falling for him, but accidently blows her cover. However, their love is stronger now and together, they promise to shed their fake images and be true to themselves. |
Arima Souichirou |
Ambition: To be the model student
Age: 15 years old, 1st year Hokuei High School Club: Kendo club Traits: Kind, charismatic, possessive Profile: With a troubled childhood, Arima closed his heart off long ago and lived life pretending to be happy. Popular and ridiculously smart, he ended up becoming Yukino's #1 rival when he took the top spot away from her. But he fell for her and continued to love her even after discovering her true personality. Even though he can be possessive over Yukino, their love grows only deeper throughout the series. |
Asaba Hideaki |
Ambition: Be surrounded by beautiful women
Age: 15 years old, 1st year Hokuei High School Club: The Going Home club Traits: Charming, Profile: Asapin sees all girls as beautiful (except Yukino XD), and dreamt of opening a harem. He saw Arima as a potential partner to lure girls in, so he tried to break Arima and Yukino up, but Yukino fights back. They eventually make truce when he realizes just how much Arima cares for Yukino, and he's since become Arima's best friend. |
Izawa Maho |
Ambition: To become a neurologist
Age: 15 years old, 1st year Hokuei High School Club: The Going Home club Traits: Mature, intelligent, graceful Profile: Like Yukino, Maho grew up in the spotlight, being smart and beautiful. However, in high school, Yukino easily surpasses her, and Maho sees right through her fake image. She gets the girls in school to turn against Yukino, but in the end, the girls stuck with Yukino and Maho was disgraced. Yukino sees that they are much alike and befriends Maho, and the two become best friends. |
Tsubaki Sakura |
Ambition: To travel around the world
Age: 15 years old, 1st year Hokuei High School Club: The Girls Volleyball club Traits: Loud, mischievous, tough Profile: Tsubaki is a free spirit and, like Asapin, she loves pretty girls. In elementary, she looked after (and also bullied) Tonami, a chubby rich boy who was always picked on. She doesn't care about what other people think, and was the first to befriend Yukino when the girls at school gave her the silent treatment. She hates being tied down, and finds her match in Tonami. |
Shibahime Tsubasa |
Ambition: To find a man that won't leave her
Age: 15 years old, 1st year Hokuei High School Club: The Going Home club Traits: Cute, cute, cute! (and scary) Profile: Everyone adores Tsubasa, but if you catch her in a bad mood, watch out! She loves sweets and Totoro, but underneath her cuteness, lies a lonely girl burned by the men in her life - first with her father deciding to remarry, and then with Arima finding a girlfriend. But when she meets her stepbrother Kazuma, she falls in love with him and is finally able to find happiness. |
Tonami Takefumi |
Ambition: To get his revenge on Tsubaki
Age: 15 years old, 1st year Hokuei High School Club: The Boys Basketball club Traits: Determined, easy-going Profile: Tonami was chubby and spoiled as a kid. He looked up to Tsubaki, who protected him from other bullies, but when he learned that she was only doing it because someone asked her to, he was crushed. He moves away for a few years, and comes back a changed man. He wanted to revenge Tsubaki, but later realizes he just wanted her love. |
Sawada Aya |
Ambition: To become a successful writer
Age: 15 years old, 1st year Hokuei High School Club: The Going Home club Traits: Always under stress, mischievous Profile: Aya is a budding novelist, who has won the "Best New Junior Writer" award and already has her stories published. She is often seen with a gloomy expression, trying to meet the deadline for her stories. When she isn't writing, she is wreaking havoc with her partner in crime, Tsubaki. Her best friend from childhood, Rika, keeps her in check. |
Sena Rika |
Ambition: To become a seamstress
Age: 15 years old, 1st year Hokuei High School Club: The Going Home club Traits: Sweet, caring, quiet Profile: Rika has the smallest role in the group, and is basically there for moral support. She doesn't mind taking the backseat next to her attention-bringing friends, and enjoys her normal, if not boring life. She's good with details and has a knack for sewing. But underneath her sweet self, she does have a tough personality - she has the power to control the troublemakers in her group. |
Ikeda Kazuma |
Ambition: Be world-famous with Yin Yang
Age: 15 years old Traits: Protective, dorky/cool Profile: Kazuma is the lead singer of the popular indie rock band, Yin Yang. He and Tsubasa become stepsiblings when their parents remarry, and she absolutely adores him. When Kazuma realized he was falling for Tsubasa, he finds himself in a weird situation and does some soul searching. During this time, he is finally able to put his emotions into his music, and confess to Tsubasa. |